Oh boy, here we go.....my 1st grow in nearly 30 years

[Harpua88]

I've read more about Arjan recently......there's always opinions...

 

[Harpua88]

He he he he......

Baba Booey ;)

 

[Kraken.headz]

This dude has definitely read the book

 

[Harpua88]

Read the effing book....... ;)

So I'm back......gone for almost 72 hours! It was horrible.....

First of all it's -22 out. Second of all, maybe 5 won't make it. Maybe even 10. But it's out of like 75 so.....we'll see. Anyway here's what I learned, and I was willing to give up a few....

It's more like remembering what I had learned and confirming right ways/wrong ways.......seedlings love humidity. They love to be covered. Like a clear plastic cover with tiny holes.....the tops of cups we get shakes in, like from Chick-fil-a? They're like clear domes with an x in the top. Even covered a little too much is better than more exposed. That's what seedlings like for about the first 5 days after they pop . They don't like wet stems. So water around the little dome cup.....slowly.....protecting the seedling stem but getting the pot damp. Fluffy damp soil, stem area drier.....dome cup/mini-greenhouse for the 1st 5 days, water slowly around it. They can handle chilly.......not a hotter environment.

 

[Harpua88]

Bo-ring.....

The "what are you waiting for you slowpokes!" stage. :(

12-13 days from putting seeds into paper towels. 8 days from transplanting to cups. Now removing their domes. I gotta get the real lights up soon......

I think if I fine-tuned the process better they'd be a little bigger. My success rate % was excellent. A couple of strains were slow poppers, that's gotta just be the nature of those strains.

Now, 2 weeks of showing you all 58 pictures of seedlings, small, medium-sized, and jumbo.....seedlings....

No, I'm not going to post many pictures of them.

 

[Harpua88]

Oh no you done you little bastard!!! Gone!!

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

I think if I fine-tuned the process better they'd be a little bigger. My success rate % was excellent. A couple of strains were slow poppers, that's gotta just be the nature of those strains.

what type of lighting are you providing for them at this stage

 

[Harpua88]

This is what cold smells like.......

Obviously you can't see cold, but it does have a certain look/feel. These are pictures of -25 or more. Standing in the sunroom, I couid feel the cold penetrating in through the windows, the floor......

Our pond has 2 bubblers, this is the first time one of them sealed over. Below 0 is quite common up here. -20 is rare.

what type of lighting are you providing for them at this stage

Right now these basic screw-in LED "grow bulbs". Plus, sunshine. They're not in the basement yet, they're up on the main floor surrounded by windows.

 

[FlatheadFisherman]

When I said hello I said that I had grown in a city apartment closet back in the late 80s-mid 90s. In 1988 I ordered Skunk #1 and Northern Lights seeds from Neville's Seed Bank and a 400w ckunky Metal Halide. I saved the pictures, not the genetics.......my teenage girlfriend and I moved in together.....we had fun. I have the stacks of High Times and books....

By around 1994, I had to stop growing, eventually a kid came along.....life. i knew one day I'd grow again. Plus. Skunk #1 will always be available......

My State is legal. Legal.......for 40+ years......things sucked. Now I can order Blueberry Fuel Skunk Chernobyl? And grow it? I'm still absorbing this. But, we got a house with some quiet property, a bit remote....but up north. Short seasons, early freezes (generally)...

This summer I put out a few testers, Strawberry Widow seeds from a friend, probably not 100%, and mixed a few of the seeds he made but not too sure of the genetics. I put 3 females outside in the sunniest area, where I'm looking to have 6 large females out there every year from now on. I'm working a patch big enough for them.

Thankfully the fall was unusually warm. Almost unheard of. It dipped below freezing just a few mornings in October, but it's usually a month that ushers in winter.......November was like another September, and beside one decent snowfall that melted away, the New Year saw no snow on the ground. Weird. Even January has been more rain than snow.

So I got to harvest the 3 females from Oct 20th to Nov 1st. Unheard of. And, I had to pollinate. I wanted seeds. I pollinated all 3 females with a big, tall, Indica dominant male. So these will be some sort of Strawberry Widow x Unknown Indica dom male. Sorry, it's all I got. I'll try to see what strain it might be close tò, i have pics of these too.........not bad for outdoor, kinda far up north........

So, now it's time. My 1st Indoor grow in nearly 30rs. After this I'll try to keep the stories to a minimum, and not report in on every day at every little stage......

I'll be planting tomorrow. Here are the details:

1/15/23: Talking about growing. Not actually doing anything. Just yapping away, wasting time and stalling. Waiting for the "right day". Tomorrow's actually a better day......

6' x 12' basement closet

1. HLG Scorpion Diablo
1. HLG Scorpion Rspec

12 x 5gallon* pots will fit in the space (3 rows of 4 pots each = 12 ) *Thinking of going 7gal.

I grow in soil. Dirt. Good dirt. Top soil, Pete moss, perlite, guano, worm castings.......I'll do what I can to keep the Ph dialed in. Mountain well water, filtered, Ph adjusted, probably don't need to add any extra food until near flowering

Planting ~40 seeds in 40 16oz peat pots. The goal is for at least 30 to pop, and live past the seedling stage.

Then the goal is for at least 12 strong Females. More would be great, we'll find a way to let them grow ;). 12 Strong females, 1 in each of the 12 pots. And 3 really big strong males for pollen.....

I will be adding UVB light during the 2nd half of flowering after acclimating them. I'm going to be making seeds with a certain portion of the best plants that I want to cross. I like working with heirlooms, landraces, the old-school strains, and I'd like to breed and create some interesting things, besides preserving strains.......

But I'll also grow some of the crazy new hybrids going around.... :)

Here's pictures of the closet, outside the closet is part of the boiler room, all of that stuff will soon be gone, the tanks, everything......we are switching from oil to propane. So outs8de of the closet I'll build a big grow box for making seedlings, so I can rotate new small plants in more quickly.

I do plan on regrowing and re-flowering the same plants twice. I always get a great 2nd harvest.

Besides these Strawberry Widow x Unkown Indica seeds I'm popping (1st time using the paper towel method, they're just popping after 48+ hours. I could make it a little warmer......

Tomorrow I'll list all the seeds I bought over the last couple of months. Maybe some ideas for which ones I should run 1st, 2nd........keeping in mind I'm looking to breed......

I have probably 25+ different varieties, almost all "Regular" / photoperiod.

Pictures of the space

I have a somewhat similar story myself. Right down to the yammering on about growing again lol. Will be keeping tabs on your progress as I progress myself. Things sure have advanced in the grow world that’s for sure! Wish I had some of the strains I grew 25 years ago. My buddies still talk about the Blue Widow I grew in my dungeon/basement.

 

[Gmix]

Thought I’d pop in see how there coming along.

Got your room sorted & got them going

Looks very cold outside
Does look nice mind when your sitting in a warm bed dunno if I’d say that if I had to live with it

 

[Harpua88]

I have a somewhat similar story myself. Right down to the yammering on about growing again lol. Will be keeping tabs on your progress as I progress myself. Things sure have advanced in the grow world that’s for sure! Wish I had some of the strains I grew 25 years ago. My buddies still talk about the Blue Widow I grew in my dungeon/basement.

My friends would come up the elevator and smell it as soon as the doors opened on my floor.... ;). And yeah, everyone said that what I grew was the best they ever had. That would carry more weight today.....we'll see....

 

[Harpua88]

Slowly removing all of the little dome cups.

I should have acted more quickly at each stage. I shouldn't have let the seeds drill roots through the paper towels (even "I'll do it in the morning" isn't goid enough), I should have gotten the sprouts into the cups sooner, even by 12-24 hours. And although I was then away for 3 days, getting decent light on them so they don't stretch as much. Again, 12-24 hours can make a difference.

So I'm......10, 11 days in?

 

[FlatheadFisherman]

My friends would come up the elevator and smell it as soon as the doors opened on my floor.... ;). And yeah, everyone said that what I grew was the best they ever had. That would carry more weight today.....we'll see....

I was redoing my roof and a bunch of my coworkers came to help and said every time they got near the chimney they smelled weed. I was venting my grow room through it lol. Now I don’t have to worry since I will be legal. Not fond of the plant limits here but it is what it is.

 

[Harpua88]

Thought I’d pop in see how there coming along.

Got your room sorted & got them going

Looks very cold outside
Does look nice mind when your sitting in a warm bed dunno if I’d say that if I had to live with it

In front of the fireplace with a glass of wine is nice. :)

 

[Harpua88]

I was redoing my roof and a bunch of my coworkers came to help and said every time they got near the chimney they smelled weed. I was venting my grow room through it lol. Now I don’t have to worry since I will be legal. Not fond of the plant limits here but it is what it is.

Yeah, depending on the state, I think we've entered a time where unless you're doing something really dumb, or way over the top, we're good. We may get to a point where we'd have to somehow register........and/or they could reserve the right to request an inspection......usually new laws and rules come about because somebody's did something stupid. The first time some family (God forbid) is killed in a fire......or someone crashes their car high and their trunk is filled with cuttings......whatever it is. But if you're behaving, low key, good citizen, and you have 12 plants instead of 6.......meh.

 

[Harpua88]

Oh yeah.....almost ready.

 

[Harpua88]

Stop stretching! :(

I'm going to have to hang the 1st light and put it on 20%, which is fine, it's not like it's that difficult and we'll do the permanent hanging/pulley setup after I install the fire suppression tanks. There's another one I'm looking at that sprays out of 2 nozzles. These things are good for more than just above garden lights.......like in your car, boat, above your stove, or any place that might be at risk of a fire breaking out. And they're smaller than I thought......more like bigger than a softball. I thought they were as big as a basketball. I would have had to hang the lights about 8" lower than I wanted but now I don't.

Electrician coming next week, that will be the final big thing, once he sets up 3 separate dedicated outlets to the new box we'll hang the fireballs, then the lights, and I'll be at full speed. For now I just gotta start getting them through/past the seedling stage...these aren't house plants. ;)

Scorpion Diablo, 20% by tonight.

 

[OldCajun]

What light did you use for your Blue Widow grow?

 

[Harpua88]

I bought 2 of these....

Automatic Lightweight & Portable Automatic Fire Ball Suppressor Extinguisher Flame-buster With Mounting Bracket 1.1lb - - Amazon.com

Automatic Lightweight & Portable Automatic Fire Ball Suppressor Extinguisher Flame-buster With Mounting Bracket 1.1lb - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

And 3 of these...

Jogoswall Automatic Fire Extinguisher,Fire Extinguisher Car,Small Fire Extinguisher,0.24lbs,Car Fire Extinguisher,clean agent fire extinguishers (CAR,SUV,TRUCK) - - Amazon.com

Jogoswall Automatic Fire Extinguisher,Fire Extinguisher Car,Small Fire Extinguisher,0.24lbs,Car Fire Extinguisher,clean agent fire extinguishers (CAR,SUV,TRUCK) - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I'll probably use 1 of each, and save/use the other 3 for other areas. Maybe 1 above the seedling/veg starter area, 1 in the kitchen and 1 in the car.

 

[Harpua88]

What light did you use for your Blue Widow grow?

Outdoors

Strawberry Widow.......from a friend so I can't say that it's literally Strawberry Cough X White Widow, but it seems very much like it. I'm more interested in the seeds I made pollinating the 2 with an unkown Indica Dom male. One of the 2 Straw/Widows was a tripod......if that's the right word.....naturally split into 3 leaf sets instead of 2......like a natural clone/cutting, nice and branchy. Since the Straw/Widow is definitely Sativa dominant (at least 75%?), the crosses should be cool.